William Steptoe
Research Interests: Summary
Theme: Virtual Reality for Computer-Supported Collaborative Work Role: PhD student My main PhD research area involves the human factors of what makes Virtual Reality effective for computer-supported cooperative work, with an emphasis on representational and behavioural fidelity. While operating under networked multi-user system limitations, how do we best represent virtual characters and the virtual environment from a visual and behavioural standpoint? How do we maximise and maintain the users’ sense of presence while providing a robust framework for computer-supported collaborative work? I am currently involved in a project which has the aim of developing a collaborative virtual environment system with integrated real-time eye-tracking in order to evaluate the role of eye-gaze in telecommunication. The system aims to deliver two and three-way communicational eye-gaze featuring high-quality avatars and operating in networked immersive virtual environments. This project is motivating from both human and technical perspectives, and my PhD will lie between these two fields of study. |